“I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.” – Isa 8:17 (ESV)
Isaiah makes a remarkable declaration of waiting — remarkable because it is made precisely in a season when God seems to be hiding His face. The hiding of God’s face in Hebrew thought means the withdrawal of His perceptible presence and favor — the experience of spiritual darkness, unanswered prayer, felt absence. And into that experience, Isaiah does not abandon God but doubles down: I will wait, I will hope. This is the hardest form of waiting — waiting in the dark, continuing to orient toward a God whose face you cannot see. The ‘I will’ is a deliberate act of the will in defiance of what the feelings report. Waiting on a hidden God is the purest form of faith.
Reflection:
Have you experienced a season when God seemed to be hiding His face — when prayer felt unanswered and His presence unfelt?
How did you respond? What would ‘I will wait and hope’ look like in that kind of darkness?
Prayer:
Lord, even when Your face seems hidden, I will wait for You. Even when I cannot feel Your presence, I will hope in You. I will not conclude that Your hiddenness means Your absence. I wait for the face I cannot yet see. Amen.
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